23- Give them Hell
The wintry storm continued to get worse as the hours passed that night, thousands of soldiers and horses were taking refuge inside of their tents and the sky was completely dark, as the Moon and the stars could not be seen through the icy clouds that covered a great part of Southern Arendelle.
The Arendellian soldiers had started to play board games in order to clear their minds a little, and the arrival of a new shipment of carrots, potatoes and cheese had made wonders to lift the morale of the entrenched troops all the way from East to West.
Anna's army already knew that Queen Elsa was responsible for the unnatural weather, but their opponents at the other side of the valley were very alarmed… they just could not believe it, and something really important was taking place at the main campsite of the Southern Isles Army:
The cold, underground room was illuminated by a few torches attached to the walls, there were several wooden tables with maps on top of them and a good number of Captains and Generals had gathered there that night.
All of them had feared the moment when they would inform their leader about the disastrous defeat that they had suffered three days ago, since the King had been busy receiving weaponry and supplies at the coast when it had happened…
King Hans of the Southern Isles had returned to the Front just to discover that his armies were in shock, his field hospitals were full to the brim of injured men, the Generals were ashamed, a mysterious snowstorm was wreaking havoc everywhere and entire campsites laid abandoned.
What had caused this severe drawback to his forces? Was it really possible that Arendelle's defenses were so strong?
The situation was a true disaster, Hans ordered a War Council to be celebrated immediately and now the King was sitting by a great round table together with twelve of his must trusted commanders…
"Tell me" Hans said, his hands clasped together as he looked around at all of them- "How many casualties have we suffered in our latest offensive?"
The King looked fearsome wearing the golden crown of the Southern Isles, a gray military uniform and an elegant red cloak. The royal sword was lying on the wooden table beside a map, a weapon that, unlike Anna's, had not seen action in the war yet.
There was cold fury in Hans' eerie green eyes, and the Generals knew that they had to be very careful about the words that they would choose…
"We have sent seventeen thousand men, your Majesty" a General said, his voice shy and weak- "Ten… Ten thousand were killed, five thousand are gravely injured and two thousand managed to escape unscathed."
They all remained in silence for awhile, trying to understand the true meaning of those words. The losses were devastating, nobody had expected that the offensive would end like that and it started to seem that the war would be lost…
"I see" Hans replied- "Not to mention that we lost the seven hundred riders that commanded the offensive… Now, tell me: How much damage have we caused to the Arendellian forces?"
"We are not sure, your Majesty" a Captain explained, speaking from the other side of the round table- "We calculate that they have suffered around three thousand dead, including Cavalry, and a similar number has been injured."
They all knew what was going to happen next, and there was a cold, awkward silence as they awaited the inevitable explosion…
"How could you let it happen!?" Hans yelled, standing up and slamming his right fist against the table- "I trusted you! I believed in you! This is a major blow to our cause, they must be celebrating and all of this happened because you are worthless!"
"Their artillery defends the Sammel Line very well" another General said, trying to act normally as Hans kicked his own chair away- "Our forces had already suffered heavy damage before the clash, and… your Majesty…"
"Please tell me that she's dead" Hans replied, looking down at all the Generals with those eerie green eyes- "Please tell me that Anna is dead!"
"Anna herself commanded their charge, and the survivors have confirmed to us that she was there, fighting with a sword in her hand…"
The highest leaders of the Southern Isles Army really wanted to ask their King why he had been away from the lines during the offensive, why he had not led his forces to the battle like Anna had done...
A few of them started to think that Hans was a coward, but for now, they kept their dark thoughts to themselves.
"And now this storm" a Captain continued- "This must be the work of the Snow Queen, her evil Magic is all around us! Your Majesty, we are not prepared for a wintry war, this was not the plan… We believe that the war is lost, and it would be wise to return to the Southern Isles as soon as possible."
"How many men did we lose at Tannya?" Hans replied, walking slowly from one side to the other- "How many were killed at our failed attempt on Anna's life? And now, this disastrous offensive! How many men are dead so far, you tell me!"
"Seventeen thousand of our men killed so far! Ten thousand more are injured! Your Majesty, this is futile!"
"Seventeen thousand!" Hans growled, coming to a halt and landing both of his hands on the table- "We cannot accept defeat just like that, our comrades have not died in vain! Now, all follow me, gentlemen…"
Hans grabbed a torch from the wall, he abandoned the underground room and all of the Generals and Captains followed him in silence. They felt the freezing wind as they reached the exterior, and then the King smiled proudly at something that his commanders had not been expecting to see:
Hundreds of red cloaked soldiers were carrying around some of the largest artillery shells that the Generals had ever seen, they were as large as the ones that Arendelle had used at Tannya, they were everywhere and even more continued to arrive...
"These arrived yesterday, the heaviest shells that we could bring aboard our fleet" Hans explained to the commanders, turning around to look at them- "We have enough firepower to reduce the Sammel Line to ashes… and now, my friends… Let's give them Hell!"